Disaster record

Lahaina Wildfire (August 2023)

Two years after the disaster 102 deaths $7 billion

Summary

On August 8, 2023, a wind-driven wildfire tore through Lahaina, Maui. By the next day it was a national story: the historic town was destroyed, and people had died. Hurricane Dora, passing south of Hawaii, and high pressure to the north produced extremely strong winds. Fires in Kula and Olinda that week are part of this same event.

Official on-scene toll unchanged at 102. Two-year sweep reviewed county recovery planning and federal reporting; no revision to the confirmed death count.

Scientific attribution

Hawaii was in drought. Dry invasive grasses burned easily. Strong winds from Hurricane Dora spread the fire fast. Scientists said a warmer climate can make hot, dry, windy weather more likely. Investigators later said the Lahaina fire started when power lines were re-energized and ignited vegetation. That does not mean climate change was the only cause. There was no World Weather Attribution study of this fire.

Aug 9, 2023 · Lahaina, Maui, Hawaii · wildfire

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Observation window: Aug 9, 2023 → Aug 16, 2023

Messaging tallies

54 / 54 Core Democratic Officials reviewed
3Disaster Mention
1Climate Connection
0 Mentioned Republican Obstruction of Climate Action

About these tallies

“Core Democratic Officials reviewed” shows how many of the 54 Core Democratic Officials have been examined for this disaster. Scoring rules: Methods.

Democratic framing

Summary

Hawaii’s two senators named this fire in the seven-day window. Sen. Mazie Hirono connected it to climate change. Neither named Republican obstruction of climate action. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer named the fire on August 15.

Sen. Brian Schatz issued an August 9 statement calling the Maui and Hawaii Island fires devastating and said federal help was already moving. He and Sen. Hirono signed that day’s Hawaii delegation letter describing the destruction in Lahaina. On August 10, Hirono told NPR’s All Things Considered that Lahaina was pretty much burned to the ground. On August 13, on CNN’s State of the Union, she said climate change is upon us, cited the Inflation Reduction Act, and talked about this tragedy and disasters that are happening more often.

Schumer, on an August 15 Senate Democratic press call, said his heart went out to people hit by the Maui fires and backed disaster aid. He then turned to the anniversary of the Inflation Reduction Act. Those are two subjects, not one climate sentence about this fire.

Reps. Ed Case and Jill Tokuda signed the August 9 letter. They are not Core Democratic Officials.

Statements

Republican framing

No Republican U.S. senator statement on this fire was found in the seven-day window.

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s Syracuse remarks calling for an investigation (August 23) and his Lahaina visit (September 2) are after noon on August 16.

Sources

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